Ghaziabad: The fire at Gaur Green Avenue has brought back scrutiny on the preparedness of the fire department in NCR.Even as real estate grows vertically, thousands of residents living on the upper floors of condominiums in NCR remain beyond the reach of firefighting capabilities. In Noida and Ghaziabad, the maximum height that hydraulic cranes can reach is 42 metres — around 14 storeys — though both cities have residential and commercial buildings as high as 100 metres. The average height of buildings in both cities is beyond 50 metres.In Noida, the tallest building is 307 metres (Supernova with 80 floors), while in Ghaziabad, residential buildings Saya Gold Avenue and Apex Drio are 120 metres tall (40 storeys each).Hoses mounted on fire engines generally have an effective water stream reach of 60 to 75 metres under ideal conditions, but practical firefighting at height remains dependent on hydraulic platforms with ladders. At Gaur Green Avenue, water jets struggling to reach the ninth floor initially. The blaze spread all the way to the 13th floor.Noida fire department operates nine stations with 28 tenders and four hydraulic cranes stationed at Sector 58, Phase 1 and Surajpur, all capped at a maximum reach of 42 metres. Ghaziabad has five stations, 22 tenders and a single hydraulic crane of equal capacity, stationed at Vaishali. It was from Vaishali that five engines were rushed to Gaur Green Avenue after the fire was reported around 8.50 am on Wednesday. Two hydraulic cranes — from Vaishali and Noida’s Sector 58 fire stations — were deployed later.Ghaziabad chief fire officer Rahul Pal told TOI that hydraulic cranes typically take 15 to 20 minutes to fully deploy after reaching the site.Officials acknowledged the need for infrastructure upgrades. Ghaziabad authorities have already sought higher-capacity equipment, while Noida CFO Pradeep Chaubey said a 75-metre hydraulic platform is being procured. “We should have it in the next three months,” he told TOI. However, in July 2025, the department similarly promised a 100-metre crane “in a few months”, a commitment yet to be fulfilled.Experts say that as high-rises become the dominant residential model in NCR cities, firefighting will increasingly depend not only on external equipment but also on robust internal safety systems — sprinklers, pressurised staircases, smoke extraction and regular evacuation drills.
